


Are You A Respectable YouTuber if You Don't Exploit Your Unborn Child?

by siriusmickey



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: 9x06 compliant, M/M, Mpreg, Post-Canon, Post-Endgame, Unplanned Pregnancy, YouTube, Youtube AU, pregnancy reaction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-21
Updated: 2019-06-21
Packaged: 2020-05-15 19:39:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19302469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siriusmickey/pseuds/siriusmickey
Summary: After prison, Ian and Mickey find themselves working jobs that suck and earn no dime. To bring in extra cash, Ian decides to start a YouTube channel. This is basically Ian and Mickey exploiting their unborn child for views and ad revenue. (AKA everyone’s reaction to finding out that Mickey is pregnant.)





	Are You A Respectable YouTuber if You Don't Exploit Your Unborn Child?

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, I have no idea how this came to be. 
> 
> I typically hate when YouTubers make hundreds of pregnancy videos, but one of my favorite YouTubers recently announced her pregnancy & I've been living for her content.
> 
> I couldn't stop thinking about what Mickey and Ian would do if they were YouTubers, so I came up with this because it wouldn't leave my head. 
> 
> This work will include the reactions of basically anyone that is close to Mickey and Ian.

“And this is how you cook Gallagher-style banana pancakes. They’re sweet and fluffy, like my Grumpy man over there.” Ian chatted off excitedly into his vlogging camera as he flipped pancakes in the small kitchen of their apartment. 

Mickey, sitting by the island simply rolled his eyes and flipped the redhead off. “Get that thing off my face,” he muttered as he approached the counter to serve himself more pancakes and refill his coffee mug. 

Ian used this as the opportunity to tease the short man a little more. He zoomed in on his face, “Oh, you know you love vlogging.” 

Mickey rolled his eyes and turned his back on Ian. Ian continue to chatter some more in front of the camera before turning it off to serve himself breakfast. 

“I don’t understand how you can enjoy displaying our lives to strangers. Some blue-balled creep could be pulling it to your face, Red.” Mickey muttered as he swallowed a forkful of the banana pancakes that he so loved. 

Ian took his comment lightly, knowing the Mickey really appreciated helping edit his videos and bringing in the extra cash. Even though Ian was barely at 400k subscribers, the money from ad revenue and a few sponsorships here and there allowed them to be able to afford rent at a semi-decent two-bedroom apartment just outside the Southside. They both still worked terrible normal jobs due to parole purposes, but Ian’s growing YouTube channel really did give them the benefit of avoiding running illegal scams like they had done before.

The idea to start a YouTube channel arose shortly after Ian’s release from prison nearly 4 years ago. He was out almost 3 years before Mickey, and the redhead knew that he had to save up for an apartment where they could both start their new life together.

Ian was immensely grateful to whatever gods had chosen to put Mickey back into his life, so he was ready to work his ass off for his man. After working at a nearby supermarket for a few months restocking shelves, Ian had grown aware that the money from that job would never be enough to afford the new lifestyle that he had dreamed of for the both of them.  
In addition, Ian really wanted to have Yevgeny back in their lives. He had briefly discussed the idea with Mickey during their time in prison. Despite the walls that Mickey built around himself when approaching the issue, Ian knew that Mickey wanted to be in Yev’s life just as much as he did. This led Ian to strive for a better job that would allow him to afford a nice apartment where Yegveny could feel welcomed. Having a good, stable job would also be a persuasive point in proving to Svetlana that Mickey and Ian were suitable of co-parenting with her once again.

Luckily, Lip pulled some strings with a former college classmate that he had established a good friendship with during his time in college and was able to get Ian a job as a receptionist at a fancy marketing company. The salary wasn’t the best, but at least Ian was able to obtain some benefits that helped cover the costs of his medicine.

It was during a slow day at work that Ian got drawn into YouTube vlogging. In the past, he had enjoyed watching YouTube gaming videos, but he never thought much of the way in which these content creators were able to make massive amounts of money. He knew he wasn’t much of an entertainer, and he wasn’t really a tech geek either. But after watching seemingly regular people vlog their lifes and post mukbangs and stupid shit, Ian decided that he would lose nothing by trying.

He still remembered the first time that he had mentioned his new YouTube channel to Mickey during one of his visits to prison. It was barely a year into Ian’s freedom, and Mickey still had 18 more months to go. 

“You’re kidding, right? Gallagher, are you gonna become a nippy northsider bitch by the time I get out of this shithole?” Mickey had teased. But he was secretly glad that Ian had his shit together and was looking for ways to keep himself stable.

“It’s not as bad as it sounds, Mick. My editing skills kinda suck, but I really enjoy having someone to talk to when I’m home alone. Fiona is long gone, and the kids all have shit of their own. At least this way I can talk to someone. Plus, you’ll get to watch the pieces of my life that you missed out on while you were stuck here.”

And true to his word, Ian had kept filming videos. He started off making short vlogs and random sit-down videos where he would share crazy storytimes about growing up in the southside. He then later moved on to a more established schedule, where he uploaded vlogs a few times a week. As his audience grew and he became more comfortable in front of a camera, Ian began to incorporate the rest of his family into his videos. His subscribers loved the snippets that he showed of his crazy family and were always leaving mostly positive comments on his videos.

Ian didn’t mention Mickey most of the time because he didn’t want to push this lifestyle on him. He would rather wait for Mickey to get out of prison and decide if he wanted to be made public to Ian’s fans. Because of this, Ian received lots of attention from both male and female subscribers attracted to his good looks. 

A year into his YouTube channel, and six months before Mickey’s release, Ian was finally at 300k subscribers and was able to save up money to move to a decent apartment just outside of the Southside. It wasn’t elegant or anywhere close to Northside standards, but it was much better than anything in the Southside. 

Ian had taken the risk of moving there in hopes that the two-bedroom apartment would entice Svetlana to allow Yevgeny to spend time there after Mickey’s release. He had been ardently trying to rebuild his relationship with the boy and was hopeful of their future as a family. The boy had been six years old when Ian got out and would be nearly 9 by the time Mickey was free. He had no previous recollection of either of them. 

Initially, it had taken Ian nearly 3 months to get Svetlana to trust him again and allow him to meet him. But when the time came, Yev’s friendly and loving personality allowed him to be very welcoming to Ian.

Svetlana had been able to raise him in a safe and loving home. She worked her ass off as a waitress at some fancy gentrified restaurant bar during the day and bartended at the Alibi at nights to afford to live in a small one-bedroom apartment in the Northside. After her and Kev and V had decided to peacefully terminate their polyamorous relationship, she had been raising the child on her own. The trio were still great friends, offering to babysit for each other when necessary, but Svetlana was ultimately Yev’s only parental figure left until Ian came back into the picture.

Eventually, when Mickey only had a few months remaining of his sentence, Svetlana allowed Yevgeny to visit him in prison. She had been honest in telling Yevgeny the truth about his father and allowing him to make the decision of whether or not to welcome the man into his life. Yevgeny, who had always yearned for a father figure like Gemma and Amy’s, was more than happy to get to know Mickey. 

At first, Mickey was reluctant and nervous about meeting the child. But Yevgeny’s loving attitude and some convincing from Ian were enough to make Mickey’s heart melt at his son’s feet. 

Once Ian and Mickey were both established in the young boy’s life again, Svetlana and Yevgeny started showing up on some of the redhead’s videos here and there. He never directly explained to his viewers what his relationship to the pair was, opting to wait for Mickey’s release to make a decision about what was appropriate to share with the public.

When Mickey got out, he was surprised at the life that Ian had been able to build in such a short time. Their apartment wasn’t huge or luxurious, but it was definitely a step up from the homes that they had both grown up in. With Mickey bringing in income from his construction work and Ian bringing in a steady income from his receptionist job, YouTube became a fun way to earn a little bit more of cash for their savings account. 

It took Ian nearly three months to convince Mickey to appear in the videos, and it took the shorter man another month to grow accustomed to having a normal conversation in front of the camera. They had both also decided that Ian could introduce Mickey as his boyfriend. They left out the part that Mickey had just been released from prison. Ian’s subscribers knew that the redhead had been in prison for a while himself, but they didn’t need to know the specifics. It was okay if they figured out on their own that Mickey had been in prison too, but the couple wasn’t about to go sharing it just yet. They did not want their YouTube comment section to be bombarded with negativity or unnecessary speculation. 

Even now, an entire year since his release, Mickey was still a little uncomfortable at times and would only appear in short snippets of Ian’s vlogs. He had, however, taken a liking to editing his boyfriend’s videos. He was naturally creative, and watching YouTube tutorials greatly helped him improve his skills. He liked to mess around with the footage by adding comedic sound effects and inserting funny comments here and there. Ian’s followers took an instant liking to Mickey’s humor. 

Now, Ian’s channel had reached 400k subscribers and was steadily growing everyday. 

“Well, gotta head out now. My boss will have my ass if I’m late to work the day that I come back from a one-week absence.” Ian mentioned as he quickly emptied out his food remains in the trash and set his plate in the sink. 

Ian had been down with a stomach flu the previous week. Initially, when Ian had been excessively tired and refused to get out of bed, Mickey had worried that his medicines needed a change. Thankfully, that was not the case at all. Despite having to be away from work for a week, a stomach flu was much better than having to deal with a depressive episode. Plus,unlike a depressive episode, a stomach flu did not require Ian to stop vlogging. 

He had opened up to his subscribers about this bipolar disorder but was not comfortable with showcasing that part of his life on video. Several months ago, during the one time that Ian had needed a medicine change since starting his channel, he had abstained from vlogging for a good two or three weeks. His followers had been worried about the YouTuber but were very understanding of his need for personal space. 

Ian kissed Mickey’s cheek on the way out and said, “Ok, see you this afternoon. Remember that we said we were going out to dinner to that new wings place.”

“Yeah, yeah I know. Bye Gallagher.”  
The redhead approached the shorter man, who was still sitting by the island, to kiss his cheek. Despite being excessively grumpy and unnecessarily stubborn, Mickey allowed Ian to kiss him goodbye. 

Mickey waited until Ian was out the door to shoot a text to Iggy. 

Mickey: did u get em?  
Iggy: Yeah on my way over now. Be there in 5.

Mickey set his phone down on the table and took a breath. His right hand toying with his lower lip. He knew that he was probably overreacting, but Iggy had put a very strange thought on his head a few days ago. And now he was stuck worrying about something that was probably not real at all. 

The pair of brothers had been hanging out exactly a week before during Mickey’s day off from work. Mickey had been grumpy because Ian had seemed like he was coming down with something, and he feared that it was another depressive episode. 

Iggy had made an off comment about Ian’s bipolar disease, nothing too intense or ill-intended, yet Mickey had completely lashed out.  
Iggy had noticed that his brother had been in a bad mood for longer than Ian had been feeling sick, so he knew that concern for the redhead was not the only thing keeping his brother on edge. In addition, Iggy had seen Mickey barf just earlier that day, and the same thing had happened the last time they had hung out. 

“You’re barfing everywhere and always in a bad mood… you sure you’re not preggers bro?”

He had meant it as a joke, but Mickey had stayed quiet for a while contemplating his sibling’s suggestion. 

After a week of worrying about Ian’s stomach flu, Mickey had completely forgotten about it. But he had kept vomiting insistently in recent days. Ian thought that Mickey was simply coming down with the same thing he had, but Mickey felt restless remembering the comment that his older brother had made. Knowing that Iggy had mentioned that he was coming over to hang out with him on his day off work, Mickey had texted him the previous night to ask him to bring him pregnancy tests. 

Mickey was laying down on the couch to watch some TV and try to keep his nerves at ease when Iggy’s insistent knocking on the door interrupted his thoughts. Despite expecting Iggy’s arrival, Mickey’s distracted mind caused him to jump at the sound. 

He had barely opened the door, yet Iggy was already overwhelming him with his chatter. “I didn’t know what kind is the most accurate or shit, so I got a bunch. You owe me at least $50 bitch.” He mentioned as he threw the bag at Mickey.

Ten minutes later, after Iggy’s insistence that there was no point in prolonging the misery, Mickey found himself sitting on the toilet seat waiting for the results to pop out. He had used the same cup of pee to fill out three different tests and was currently waiting for the results of all of them. 

Iggy stood outside the bathroom door, making unnecessary comments every once in a while. “How much longer till you find out if you’re having a bun in the oven, or however the fuck the saying goes?”  
Mickey didn’t have time to respond as the timer that he had set went off.

“WHAT does it sa-”

“Shut up. I haven’t seen yet. You know what, I’m throwing this shit away. I probably only have a stomach virus and we’re overreacting about this shit. I doubt I’m… I doubt it. No way. This is bullshit. And it is all your fault for putting this stupid idea into my head Iggs. You’re lucky I didn’t go through with this because otherwise I would be beating the shit out of-”

This time, Iggy interrupted Mickey’s rambling. “I’m coming in,” he mentioned as he opened the door.  
He saw the three pregnancy tests lined up next to each other on the bathroom sink and stared back at Mickey’s anxious face.  
“Well, are you gonna look?”

Mickey looked up at his brother and shook his head. “Nope. You do it.” He covered his face in his hands and pulled at his hair. He had so many mixed feelings about the situation, and he wasn’t sure that he would have the guts to look at the tests himself.

Iggy rolled his eyes and took the first pregnancy test into his hands. Thankfully, he didn’t have to do much contemplating on how many lines he saw since this was a digital test that clearly and plainly stated “PREGNANT.”

“Holy shit! I’m gonna be an uncle!” 

“Shut up, you already are an uncle bitch. Yevgeny - wait. Wait. What did you just say? Does this mean.. Holy fuck. Shit. Am I?” Mickey was in disbelief. He rushed to the sink the look at all three tests. Two of them had two bright pink cross and the other had the word PREGNANT blatantly displayed on the tiny screen.  
“Oh my god, I’m having a baby.” A couple of tears escaped Mickey’s eyes, though Iggy doubted that the expectant father realized it.

“These are good news right? That redhead of yours cares about you and is gonna be thrilled that he knocked you up, right?” Iggy had seen Ian stand by his brother’s side during his second imprisonment, but he could never forget about the way in which he abandoned him the first time around. 

All Mickey could do was nod, brushing away the few happy tears that had rolled down his cheeks. Obviously, he had been hesitant and nervous about the thought of bringing a human being into this world. Ian and him could have made it out of prison alive, but they were still felons under the law. They might be doing a semi-decent job of parenting Yevgeny, but that was only because Svetlana had done all the work herself for so many years. This was different. This meant them bringing a child of their own into a nasty world. This was them taking care of hospital bills, diapers, baby formula, clothes, food, and many other things that Mickey couldn’t bare thinking about. Oh and the most frightening part, carrying that child inside him for nine months. Mickey knew he was a fuck up. He knew that he wasn’t responsible enough to take care of another person, much less someone inside him. He needed time to be a real adult before rushing to parenting a tiny creature.

But there’s never a correct timing for everything. And he couldn’t help but be excited about the prospect of loving and caring for this tiny being. He thought of all the hardships throughout his own life. The mental and physical abuse under Terry’s rule, the internalized homophobia that he had to overcome in order to allow himself to love Ian, the heartbreak of losing Ian again and again and again… 

The fear and isolation that he had felt in prison the first time around. The betrayal he had experienced when being left at the border by the one person he had ever loved. The loneliness of wandering a foreign land on his own, with no secure plans and a limited amount of money. 

Looking back on all those memories, he couldn’t believe that this was what his life had become. For the first time in their long, rough relationship, Ian and MIckey were in a stable position. Or as stable as their Southside roots would ever allow them to be. They had a semi-decent income, were living in a semi-safe neighborhood, had their shit semi-put together, and had no intent of going back to prison anytime soon. 

The prospect of loving and caring for a tiny baby that was half his and half Ian’s had Mickey shaking with emotion and joy.

Upon Mickey’s confirmation that he was taking this news in a positive manner, a bright idea went off on Iggy’s head. He rushed to the kitchen to grab the camera that he had seen earlier that morning and that Ian had left behind. 

“What the heck are you doing?” Mickey asked as his brother returned to the restroom with the item in hand, attempting to turn it on.

“Your redhead is going to want to watch this. Plus, you’ve got to exploit your child from the womb man. Its the trend right now. Do you have any idea of how many views your reaction will be worth?”

Mickey rolled his eyes but was too shocked at the pregnancy news to give much thought to the camera in front of him. 

Iggy was finally able to turn it on and capture Mickey slightly rubbing his stomach in shock.

“Hi guys, Iggy here.” He said as he stood in front of the bathroom mirror to film his reflection. “We just found out that Mickey here is preggers. He just took all these tests and they all show positive results. A lil ruggrat is on the way.”

He finally turned the camera on Mickey, “So what do you say bro?”

Mickey actually smiled at Iggy, but didn’t directly address the camera, “ I can’t believe it. We weren’t planning it. But it ain't bad news, right?” 

“It ain’t bro.” With that, Iggy turned off the camera and allowed Mickey time to process the news in private.


End file.
